Living worlds offer a nonlinear, unscripted process for experiencing and safely learning the cognitive complexity and nuance of culture through emergent high-fidelity simulation. The 3D Asymmetric Domain Analysis and Training model uses visual, auditory, behavioral, and cultural models for immersive cultural training using the living-world construct.
This action-research project was conducted in three Quebec schools and its aim was to support resource teachers that teach high school students at risk and with learning difficulties. All participating resource teachers (N = 29) attended collaborative teachers-researchers meetings focusing on the characteristics and needs of students' with learning difficulties as well as on effective reading and writing strategies and procedures. Additionally, a test on their sense of self-efficacy was administered before and after the training. The paper also describes the mentoring and collaboration processes, the effects they had on actual classroom practices and on resource teachers' sense of selfefficacy. The facilitators and the obstacles encountered will also be presented and a few solutions will be proposed to improve this type of collaboration.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the strategy adopted by French engineering schools facing the internationalization of knowledge and technological production, knowing that the foreign languages and cultures training participate to make students able to work in an international context. For this purpose the Council of Deans of French Engineering Schools and Universities of Technology (CDEFI) did an inquiry among 173 French graduated engineering schools. Even if the French accreditation board for engineering education (CTI) asks to the engineering schools to teach at least one mandatory language: English, the study has shown that the majority of the schools (62%) impose students to study a second compulsory language. A wide variety of foreign languages, mandatory or not, is offered by the schools. In total, 16 different foreign languages are offered. In addition to English which is mandatory in all schools, 92% of the schools offer Spanish classes, 92% offer German classes, 71% offer Chinese classes and 53% offer Japanese classes. A large majority of engineering schools includes at least one permanent foreign languages teacher position : teachers of English (91%), German (63%) and Spanish (62%).The study showed that 97% of the schools work to integrate more than one foreign language in the curriculum of engineering students. Half of them would add a new language in addition to its current offering. The language more frequently cited in this case was Portuguese (37%). In almost all cases (92%), the management team and the staff consider that the foreign languages' learning is very important for engineering students. Their primary motivation in the choice of a foreign language would be the project to go abroad. The study established a link between languages taught in the school and academic and research international partnerships. The most cited countries regarding students exchanges were Spain, or other Spanish-speaking countries, Germany, China and the United Kingdom, which correspond to the four most widely taught languages in engineering schools. However, for future partnerships, we clearly noticed that French engineering schools want to collaborate with Brazil and China. The schools interested in partnerships with those countries are making significant efforts to integrate Chinese and Portuguese courses in the curriculum. The paper draws up a complete panorama of the diversity of their implementation.
While traditional seating (also known as fixed seating or fixed classroom) remains the preferred classroom seating arrangement for teachers, a new type of seating arrangement is becoming more common in schools: the flexible classroom (also known as flexible seating). The purpose of this type of arrangement is to meet the needs of students by providing a wide variety of furniture and workspaces, to put students at the center of learning, and to allow them to make choices based on their preferences and the objectives of the task at hand. This study aimed to examine the influence of flexible seating on the wellbeing and mental health of elementary school students. This article presents the results of exploratory research conducted in Quebec among Grade 5 and 6 students comparing the wellbeing and mental health of students in fixed and flexible classrooms. The study was conducted with 107 students in three Grade 5 and 6 flexible classrooms (n = 51) and three Grade 5 and 6 fixed classrooms (n = 56). It is based on a quasi-experimental, quantitative design with post-test only and a control group. The groups were matched based on natural conditions (i.e., from a convenience sample). Furthermore, the study included a gender-differentiated analysis for each group. The results showed that flexible classroom seating had a positive influence on the girls’ wellbeing and mental health. In contrast, for the boys, fixed classroom seating was most conducive to their wellbeing and mental health. However, our study has some limitations that are discussed in the article.
On observe, depuis quelques années, une croissance de la popularité et de l’utilisation de l’aménagement flexible dans les classes de niveaux primaire et secondaire. Toutefois, aucune donnée officielle ne permet de connaître le nombre de classes l’utilisant, le type d’aménagement privilégié, le vécu des principaux acteurs, etc. Ce projet a pour objectif général de recenser les classes flexibles du primaire et du secondaire au Québec afin de mieux circonscrire et comprendre le phénomène. Trois cent cinquante et un (N=351) enseignants ont répondu à un questionnaire en ligne les invitant à décrire l’aménagement de leur classe ainsi que leurs perceptions de cette nouvelle réalité dans le monde de l’enseignement. Les données indiquent que la majorité des classes flexibles se trouvent au niveau primaire. Dans une question ouverte, les enseignants livrent leurs perceptions concernant l’environnement de classe, leur vécu et celui des élèves. L’étude se conclut par les principaux défis rencontrés par les enseignants dans la mise en œuvre de leur aménagement flexible en classe.
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